Songs that Sound Like Other Songs

Post navigation

Recurring Riffs #1: Stealing Candy From A Baby

Introducing a new series here at TSSL, one that may as well be christened “Recurring Riffs”. In it, I’ll trace a chosen musical motif through as many of its incarnations as I can think of, starting with the earliest and ending with its most modern iteration. These will exist in a land separate from notions of copyright and plagiarism, instead concerning salient phrases or repeated figures which are not necessarily “copied”, and don’t really belong to anybody in particular, but which resurface from time to time in a broad array of recorded works for any number of untold reasons.

This will be a subject that naturally begs for reader participation, largely because there will no doubt be plenty of examples that either space or my own scope on the matter will limit me from covering. It is thus highly encouraged for you to take to the comments section and fill in any gaps that may arise. We’ll then add any pertinent examples to the post, soundclips and all, in an addendum section.

For the inauguratory post, we take things back to the playground.

The children’s sing-along clapping game, known as “Down Down Baby“, is one of those age-old passtime games that exists in many variations in its natural setting of the schoolyard. What might not be immediately apparent is its longevity as a theme used in the outside world.

Here’s a video from Sesame Street, featuring some kids learning the game:

And a quicker clip of children’s singer Laurie Berkner singing the song:

Laurie Berkner - "Down Down Baby" (1997)

Right off the bat, I’ll bet many of you who were at first uncertain have by now remembered where else this tune has surfaced, and so in that spirit let’s take a chronological look at a few places it’s been.

Starting with perhaps its earliest appearance in a hit song, Little Anthony‘s version injects some sexual tension into his use of the phrase in an ever-modulating chorus:

Little Anthony and the Imperials - "Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop" (1959)

Next, a version of “Down Down Baby” was used in a particularly memorable scene in the Tom Hanks movie Big, as the method by which Hanks’ grown-up character Josh convinces his friend Billy who he really is. In lieu of an available youtube clip, here’s the audio:

Tom Hanks - "Shimmy Shimmy Handshake" (1988)

This brings us to probably the most well known use of “Down Down Baby”, found in Nelly‘s debut hit single “Country Grammar“. I don’t know what it is about rappers using juvenile ditties for their hooks — from Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life” to the bevy of hip-hop figures involved in reprising “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” (a likely contender for a future Recurring Elements post) — but Nelly’s may well be the most successful attempt at “stealing candy from a baby” in such a fashion. It’s hard to imagine the song would have been such a hit without that irresistible melody and the delightful subversiveness of mixing the original lyrics with lines like “light it up and take a puff / pass it to me now”:

Nelly - "Country Grammar (Hot Shit)" (2000)

Finally, have a listen to one of Philly’s best bands incorporating the song into their sublime “Freedom Park”:

Thanks James. Yeah, the Vapors! “Turning Japanese” is a great example of that riff. Bowie’s “China Girl” too. This would be a good one — parodies in the form of melodies & specific instruments used as shorthand to evoke the cultural “other”.

Yes. Also, check out The Most Ripped Off Heavy Metal Riff and Who’s Riff is it (Nirvana, Killing Joke, The Damned, The Beatles)? on Youtube. For some reason Nickelback isn’t mentioned in the title of the latter and the Beatles riff sounds more like something by The Monkees (I’m A Believer?).

These are a couple of short motifs, in scale degree numbers, that occur a lot, in different rhythms: 3 5 1 2 1, which appears in Every Time You Cry, Every Time You Go Away, Take My Breath Away, I will Follow Him and even the intro riff to Tears in Heaven. The second is: 5 4 3 5 1 2 3 1, which occurs in songs such as Glory, Glory, Hallelujah; Walk a Country Mile and others.

While I’m on the subject, the riff from That Driving Beat (1999) sounds like that of (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones, which in itself is said to be taken from Nowhere to Run by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

A Celtic song by Herbert Hughes and William Butler Yeats titled Down by the Salley Gardens also uses the motif: 5 6 1 2 1, and sorry, I will follow Him and the intro riff to Tears in Heaven use 5 6 1 2 1, not 3 5 1 2 1.

Another example of a juvenile ditty turning up (and this is by people other than rappers), sometimes possibly unintentionally is one we’ll call the na na na na na motif. I believe it came from nursery rhymes, but it may have come before. It can be found in the Round the Twist theme song, both F**kin’ Perfect and Are We All We Are? by P!nk and the verse of If it’s Love by Train.